Thursday 27 November 2008

What if ?

What if I did decide to move to Sydney and restart my filmmaking career?

I could hermit like sit around and make exquistely crafted documentaries on my own or I could go out and create my own community of filmmakers.

Shooting People don't seem to have a list in Australia so I'd join the Australian Short Films Forum.

I'd do a course - either to update my skills or to get a new one. Doing a course is the best way to find collaborators.

I'd find out where short films were being shown and go along. I'd find out about film festivals ditto (many film festivals have ancillary events about filmmaking which are worth going to). I'd try and get to as many networky type events as possible and if there weren't any start my won using the power of Meet Up / Gumtree or even notices left in places.

Any other suggestions?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Or you could check out MetroScreen (www. metroscreen.org.au)... Their Members' Production Group (MPG) I found a very good spot not only for finding enthusiastic collaborators but facilities, equipment and cheerful staff (who like to have their brains picked about tricky Sydney film making questions if you ask them nicely). Am not sure whether the MPG in this form still exists, but MetroScreen offer courses, too - with even more collaborators to get to know - plus subsidies and equipment hire.

When I moved to Sydney in 2004, I knew virtually no one "in films" over there. By the end of 2005, I had written & directed four short films with the help of MetroScreen.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, but it is. ;-)

Like you, I found Sydney a very film-y place to be in which propelled my creativity (and productivity) to yet unknown levels.

The only odd thing is, that people will tell you "oh, that's soo European" about virtually every film idea closer to David Lynch or Wong Kar Wei than, say, Richard Curtis. Leaves room for maneuvering, though. ;-)